'English Patient' Dominates Oscars With Nine, Including Best Picture 'English Patient' Dominates Oscars With Nine, Including Best Picture By LAWRENCE VAN GELDER he English Patient,'' a mesmerizing tale of love and betrayal set against the background of World War II in the deserts of North Africa and the devastation of Italy, dominated the 69th Academy Awards last night in Los Angeles. The film, adapted by its director, Anthony Minghella, from Michael Ondaatje's 1992 Booker Prize-winning novel, won in 9 of the 12 categories in which it had received nominations, including best picture. Its Academy Awards of Merit, the official name of the Oscars, included the prizes for Mr. Minghella as director and for Juliette Binoche as best supporting actress, as well as for cinematography, art direction, costume design, editing, sound and original dramatic score.

The haul of the gold-plated statuettes, depicting a knight standing on a reel of film, hands gripping a sword, put ''The English Patient'' in a category of films that includes the 1958 musical ''Gigi'' and the 1987 epic ''The Last Emperor.'' Only the 1961 musical ''West Side Story,'' with 10 Oscars, and the 1959 biblical drama ''Ben-Hur,'' with 11, have won more. Standing between ''The English Patient'' and a sweep in the major categories were Billy Bob Thornton, who won the Oscar for best screenplay adaptation for ''Sling Blade''; Geoffrey Rush for his portrayal of the troubled Australian pianist David Helfgott in ''Shine,'' and Frances McDormand, chosen best actress for her portrayal of a pregnant police chief in ''Fargo.'' That snowbound film noir also won the brothers Ethan and Joel Coen the prize for best original screenplay. Even before last night's ceremonies, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had announced that its Irving G.

Thalberg Memorial Award, an honorary accolade for high level of producing was to go to Saul Zaentz, the producer of ''The English Patient.'' His previous Oscar winners were ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' and ''Amadeus.'' Accepting his award, Mr. Zaentz spoke of the passion that separates one film from another, and as he held his award aloft, he said: ''This belongs to the many with whom I have shared dreams and journeys. My cup is full.'' Later, when ''The English Patient'' was named best film, Mr. Zaentz said, ''It runneth over.'' The awards to ''The English Patient,'' ''Fargo'' and ''Shine'' capped a year in which the major Hollywood studios were pushed aside at awards ceremonies in favor of so-called independent productions. If the night could be said to hold a surprise, it was the decision of the voters to award the prize for best supporting actress to Ms. Binoche rather than to Lauren Bacall for her portrayal of an overbearing mother in ''The Mirror Has Two Faces.'' Even Ms. Binoche said she was surprised.

After a three-year hiatus, Billy Crystal returned as host of the ceremonies for the fifth time since 1990, opening the show at the Shrine Auditorium with a series of film clips that injected him into scenes from some of the Oscar-nominated films as he pondered the wisdom of resuming the role of host. With Yoda of ''Stars Wars'' as the adviser on his troubled decision to come back, he turned to his putative parents -- Brenda Blethyn in scenes from ''Secrets and Lies'' and Armin Mueller-Stahl in ''Shine.'' He confronted Tom Cruise of ''Jerry Maguire'' as his agent and left his thick book of jokes with a dying Kristin Scott Thomas of ''The English Patient'' as he went off to appear on the Academy Awards show. On the ABC telecast, said to be seen by an audience of more than a billion people in 100 countries, Mr. Crystal poked fun at David Letterman, called the Shrine Auditorium the only theater in America not showing one of the ''Stars Wars'' movies,'' sang a medley of parodies about the best-picture nominees and joked that the only person in the country guaranteed to wake up with a statue today was Tipper Gore.

It was a night made notable by an the endless ''I love you's'' and thanks delivered by a jubilant Cuba Gooding Jr., who won the evening's first award, best supporting actor, for his portrayal of the professional football player who demands, ''Show me the money,'' in ''Jerry Maguire.'' There were also ovations for the former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali and the pianist David Helfgott, who figured in two of the nominated films. Mr. Ali walked slowly to the stage after ''When We Were Kings,'' about his 1974 heavyweight championship bout with George Foreman in Zaire, won the prize for best feature documentary. The dimwitted cartoon characters Beavis and Butt-head made their debuts as presenters, delivering the award for best achievement in sound effects editing to Bruce Stambler for ''The Ghost and the Darkness.'' ''Kolya'' a Czech production directed by Jan Sverak, won the prize for best foreign film. The Academy Award for best song went to ''You Must Love Me,'' written for ''Evita'' by the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and the lyricist Tim Rice.

''The English Patient'' won the first of its awards for the best achievement in art direction, with Oscars for Stuart Craig for art direction and to Stephenie McMillan for set decoration. The award for best achievement in makeup was won by Rick Baker and David Leroy Anderson for ''The Nutty Professor,'' starring Eddie Murphy. The prize for best achievement in live action short films went to David Frankel and Barry Jossen for ''Dear Diary.'' Leon Gast and David Sonenberg won the Academy Award for best achievement in documentary features for their film about the ''Rumble in the Jungle,'' the heavyweight Ali-Foreman championship fight 23 years ago. The war of the worlds depicted in ''Independence Day,'' with its destruction of cities, brought an Oscar for the best achievement in special effects to Volker Engel, Douglas Smith, Clay Pinney and Joseph Viskocil. The prize for sound effects editing went to Bruce Stambler for ''The Ghost and the Darkness,'' about two marauding lions.

The Oscar for animated short films went to Tyron Montgomery and Thomas Stellmach for ''Quest.'' Jessica Yu was awarded the Oscar for best achievement in documentary short subjects for ''Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien,'' about a paralyzed writer who has lived for 41 years in an iron lung. Rachel Portman won the Oscar for best achievement in music for an original musical or comedy score for ''Emma.'' Michael Kidd, who created the dances for ''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,'' ''Guys and Dolls'' and other musicals, received an honorary award for career achievement. Among presenters of the Academy Awards were such previous Oscar winners as Nicolas Cage, Susan Sarandon, Julie Andrews, Michael Douglas, Jodie Foster, Goldie Hawn, Tommy Lee Jones and Diane Keaton. Other presenters included Sandra Bullock, Chris O'Donnell, Nicole Kidman, Chris Farley and Will Smith. An Oscar for scientific and technical achievement went to the Imax Corporation for its large-format movies. A total of 248-feature length films met the eligibility requirement for 1996 Academy Award consideration.

Feature-length films in English or with English subtitles, regardless of country of origin, are eligible for the awards if first publicly exhibited in 35- or 70-millimeter format in a theater in Los Angeles County for a commercial run of at least seven days beginning before midnight Dec. 31. The Oscars Library: The Books Behind Hollywood's Best Pictures Advanced Search SHARE More than two thirds of Hollywood's Best Picture winners were inspired by literature, whether it be a novel, biography, play, or short story. In fact, since the inaugural Academy Awards in 1928, more than 60 Best Picture winners derive from literature, and that's not including the nominees. From epic war stories to classic romantic comedies, here's a look at the lit behind Hollywood's most beloved films dating back to 1928. 2010s 2014: Birdman, or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance The movie itself was not based on a book but it is not without a literary connection.

In the award-winning film, a desperate actor (Michael Keaton) attempts to boost his flagging career with a stage adaptation of Raymond Carver's short story collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Love , which was originally published in 1981. 2013: 12 Years a Slave Solomon Northup was a free man who was kidnapped and sold into the Louisiana slave trade. He detailed his experience in his 1853 memoir Twelve Years a Slave , the basis of the film that won three Academy Awards. 2012: Argo This Oscar winner starring Alan Arkin and Ben Affleck is based on the non-fiction read Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History by top-level CIA agent Antonio Mendez. Published in 2012, Mendez's book details the complex rescue of six Americans from a hostage situation in Tehran in 1979. Other Best Picture winners from this decade were Spotlight (2015), The Artist (2011) and The King's Speech (2010).

2000s 2008: Slumdog Millionaire One of the most talked about movies of its time, Slumdog Millionaire is based on Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup's first novel, Q & A , the story of a young Indian boy who was accused of and imprisoned for cheating on a quiz show. The film won eight Oscars including best adapted screenplay. 2007: No Country for Old Men Author Cormac McCarthy is no stranger to the film industry. Four of his 10 novels have been adapted for the big screen, but No Country for Old Men , the story of a Texas drug deal gone wrong, is his only book-to-movie to win an Oscar for Best Picture. "End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path. One that we all must take." — RETURN OF THE KING 2004: Million Dollar Baby Million Dollar Baby is a short story by F.X. Toole, a pseudonym for Jerry Boyd (1930-2002), a fight manager and "cut man" (someone who stanches the bleeding of a fighter's wounds between rounds).

The Oscar-winning film was adapted from Boyd's short story collection, Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner , which he wrote at the age of 69. 2003: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King J.R.R. Tolkien's work is ideal for film, and clearly The Return of the King , the third book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, is no exception. The film adaptation won a whopping 11 Oscars, winning each category it was nominated in. 2001: A Beautiful Mind Russell Crowe stars as Nobel Prize winner John Nash in the film adaptation of Sylvia Nasar's biography of the mathematician, A Beautiful Mind . Those interested in the story of John Nash should follow Nasar's book with The Essential John Nash written by Nash himself. The Hurt Locker (2009), The Departed (2006), Crash (2005), Chicago (2002), and Gladiator (2000) also won Best Picture awards. 1990s 1998: Shakespeare in Love Who better to star in a romantic comedy than William Shakespeare ?

While this charming Gwyneth Paltrow movie isn't exactly based on Shakespeare's writing, it does portray Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) writing Romeo and Juliet . That's literary enough for us. 1996: The English Patient Based on Canadian writer Michael Ondaatje's novel The English Patient , this film was nominated for 11 Oscars and won nine. The novel won the prestigious Booker Award when it was published in 1992. 1995: Braveheart Even the most avid readers aren't likely to know The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace, but they might be familiar with its English translation, The Acts and Deeds of the Illustrious and Valiant Champion Sir William Wallace, also known as The Wallace , an epic poem written by 'Blind Harry' in the fifteenth century. The historic poem was the basis for the Mel Gibson film that won five Oscars. "Now you wouldn't believe me if I told you, but I could run like the wind blows.

From that day on, if I was ever going somewhere, I was running!" — FORREST GUMP 1994: Forrest Gump An adaptation of Winston Groom's 1986 novel of the same name, Forrest Gump won six Oscars. Tom Hanks won the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of Groom's beloved title character. 1993: Schindler's List Schindler's List is adapted from Australian author Thomas Keneally's Booker-winning novel, Schindler's Ark (later released as Schindler's List ). Keneally's work is a fictional account of Nazi Party member Oskar Schindler's involement in saving hundreds of prisoners from concentration camps. 1992: Unforgiven While credit was never official, Unforgiven screenplay writer David Webb Peoples was inspired by Glendon Swarthout's 1975 novel The Shootist . A classic western tale, The Shootist won the Spur Award and has been called one of the best western novels ever written.

1991: The Silence of the Lambs Based on the novel The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris, the movie of the same title won five Oscars, including Actor and Actress in a Leading Role. The legendary Anthony Hopkins won the award for his portrayal of cannibalistic serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter, while Jodie Foster won for the role of Clarice Starling, the young FBI student sent to interview Hannibal. 1990: Dances With Wolves Based on the 1988 Civil War novel by Michael Blake, Dances with Wolves was produced and directed by Kevin Costner, who also happened to star in it as Blake's main character, Lieutenant Dunbar. The '90s also gave us Best Picture winners American Beauty (1999) and Titanic (1997). 1980s 1989: Driving Miss Daisy The Oscar-winning film starring Jessica Tandy as Miss Daisy and Morgan Freeman as her driver Hoke Colburn is based on the play Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhry. 1988: Rain Man The film Rain Man was inspired by Kim Peek, an American savant.

Peek's story is documented in the book The Real Rain Man: Kim Peek by Fran Peek. Dustin Hoffman was awarded the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Raymond Babbitt, a fictional Kim Peek. 1987: The Last Emperor Based on the book The Last Manchu: the Autobiography of Henry Pu Yi, Last Emperor of China by Kuo Ying Paul Tsi, The Last Emperor won nine Academy Awards, winning every category it was nominated in. "You know you are truly alive when you're living among lions." — OUT OF AFRICA 1985: Out of Africa Based on Danish Baroness Karen Blixen's 1937 memoir Out of Africa , the film starred Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. Out of Africa was nominated for 11 Oscars and won seven. 1984: Amadeus Adapted from screenwriter Peter Shaffer's own play, Amadeus , this period drama accounts the fictional lives of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. The film won eight of 11 Oscars.

1983: Terms of Endearment John Lithgow, Jack Nicholson, and Shirley MacLaine all starred in the film adaptation of Terms of Endearment by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry. MacLaine won the Oscar for Best Actress for her portrayal of McMurtry's memorable character Aurora Greenway. 1980: Ordinary People Based on Judith Guest's novel Ordinary People , this adaptation was Robert Redford's directorial debut. The novel was Guest's first, too. Platoon (1986), Ghandi (1982), and Chariots of Fire (1981) were the big award winners of their year. 1970s 1979: Kramer vs. Kramer Based on the 1977 novel Kramer vs. Kramer by Avery Corman, this Best Picture winner starred Dustin Hoffman as Ted Kramer and Meryl Streep and Joanna Kramer. Their portrayals earned them each an Oscar. 1975: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Based on Ken Kesey's classic 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , this film won five Oscars including best adapted screenplay.

Jack Nicholson took home an Academy Award for his portrayal of Kesey's violent convict Randle McMurphy. 1974: The Godfather Part II Author Mario Puzo co-wrote the screenplay for The Godfather Part II, based on his epic family saga The Godfather . He shared the Oscar for best adapted screenplay with Francis Ford Copppla, who also directed. "Great men are not born great, they grow great..." — THE GODFATHER 1973: The Sting Winner of seven Academy Awards, The Sting is based on the non-fiction book The Big Con: the Story of the Confidence Man by David Maurer, a professor of linguists who specialized in con-man argot: the write, the rag, the payoff, ropers, shills, the cold poke, the convincer, to put on the send. 1972: The Godfather The film that arguably launched Al Pacino's stardom was based on Mario Puzo's The Godfather , published in 1969. Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola won their first joint Oscar for best adapted screenplay.

1971: The French Connection Robin Moore's non-fiction book The French Connection: A True Account of Cops, Narcotics, and International Conspiracy tells the real-life story of two New York City Narcotics Detectives and their attempt to uncover a notorious drug ring. The film adaptation starred Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider as the NYC cops. 1970: Patton A biography of General George S. Patton, this epic war film was based on not one, but two non-fiction books. Patton: Ordeal and Triumph by Ladislas Farago and A Soldier's Story by Omar Bradley were the inspiration for Patton. The film won seven Oscars. Best Pictures from the 1970s also included The Deer Hunter (1978), Annie Hall (1977), and Rocky (1976). 1960s 1969: Midnight Cowboy Based on the 1965 novel Midnight Cowboy by James Leo Herlihy. Jon Voight played the role of tortured Texan Joe Buck, a 'Midnight Cowboy'. 1968: Oliver! Oliver as in Oliver Twist , Charles Dickens most beloved orphan.

First published as a serial in the 1830s, Oliver Twist was Dicken's second novel. 1967: In the Heat of the Night Anyone who has seen this classic film should recall Sidney Poitier's line, "They call me Mr. Tibbs." Poitier portrayed Virgil Tibbs, a black police officer passing through Wells, South Carolina during the height of the civil rights movement and the main character in John Ball's 1965 crime novel, In the Heat of the Night . 1966: A Man for All Seasons Winner of six Academy Awards, this film was adapted from Robert Bolt's biographical play about Sir Thomas Moore, titled A Man for All Seasons . Bolt wrote the screenplay himself, winning the Oscar for best adapted screenplay. 1965: The Sound of Music As fictional as the musical Trapp family might seem, The Sound of Music was inspired by Maria von Trapp's memoir, The Story of the Trapp Singers . Julie Andrews was nominated for her portrayal of Maria but the Best Actress Oscar went to Julie Christie for her role in Darling.

1964: My Fair Lady Based on George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion , My Fair Lady starred Audrey Hepburn as the lovable Eliza Doolittle with the Cockney accent and Rex Harrison as the phonetics professor who aims to break it. The film won eight Oscars, including best costume design to Cecil Beaton . 1963: Tom Jones No, not the singer. This Tom Jones predates the crooner by about two centuries. Based on the 1749 novel The History of Tom Jones: A Foundling by British writer Henry Fielding, the film won four Oscars. 1961: West Side Story The film adaptation of the Broadway musical based on William Shakespeare's tragic romance, Romeo and Juliet . The movie won an outstanding 10 Academy Awards, winning in all but one of the categories it was nominated in. We can't forget Best Picture winners Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and The Apartment (1960).

1950s 1959: Ben-Hur Based on Lew Wallace's 1880 historical novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ , the film starring Charlton Heston as Judah Ben-Hur was nominated for 12 Oscars and won 11. The book was the bestselling novel of its time and remained so until the release of Gone With the Wind decades later. 1958: Gigi Screenwriter Alan Jay Lerner transformed Gigi , Colette's 1944 novella about a young Parisian girl being groomed to become a courtesan, into a musical romantic comedy that was nominated for nine Oscars and won them all. 1957: The Bridge On the River Kwai Based on French novelist Pierre Boulle's historical novel The Bridge Over the River Kwai (originally written and titled in French, Le Pont de la Rivière Kwai). While fictional, Boulle based the novel on his own personal experience. Boulle was awarded the Oscar for best adapted screenplay, but it truly belonged to writers Michael Wilson and Carl Foreman who were blacklisted for belonging to the Communist Party at the time.

Wilson and Foreman were awarded posthumous Oscars in 1985. "I see that it is by no means useless to travel, if a man wants to see something new." — AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS 1956: Around the World in 80 Days This technicolor adventure film is based on Jules Verne's famous novel Around the World in Eighty Days , originally published in French as Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours in 1873. 1953: From Here to Eternity Based on James Jones' first novel, From Here to Eternity , the film starred Burt Lancaster, Frank Sinatra, and Donna Reed. From Here to Eternity is set in Hawaii during the months leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor. The film won eight Oscars. 1950: All About Eve All About Eve was inspired by a short story that appeared in the May 1946 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. The story was titled The Wisdom of Eve and was written by Mary Orr. The author was never given screen credit for the film that starred Bette Davis and won six Oscars.

Best Pictures from the 1950s also included Marty (1955), On the Waterfront (1954), The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) and An American in Paris (1951). 1940s 1949: All the King's Men Adapted for film from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren, the political drama stars Broderick Crawford as the ruthless politician Willie Stark. 1948: Hamlet Sir Laurence Olivier was no stranger to Shakespeare, portraying Henry V, Richard III, Othello and, of course, Hamlet . He acted in and directed Hamlet, earning Oscar nominations for both but winning only the Best Actor award. 1947: Gentleman's Agreement A controversial film noir, this movie was based on Laura Z. Hobson's novel A Gentleman's Agreement . The book was originally published as a serial in Cosmopolitan magazine in 1946 - by 1947 it was a bestselling novel. Gregory Peck starred in the film adaptation, playing the role of Philip Green, a journalist tasked with writing about anti-Semitism in New York.

1946: The Best Years of Our Lives The Best Years of Our Lives was inspired by the work of war correspondent MacKinlay Kantor who published his work as a novella titled Glory for Me . Robert E. Sherwood adapted Kantor's work for film. It won eight Oscars. 1945: The Lost Weekend Based on the semi-autobiographical novel The Lost Weekend by Charles Jackson, published in 1944. It's the story of Don Birnam, an alcoholic writer who goes on a days-long binge. Ray Milland won an Oscar for his portrayal of Birnam. 1944: Going My Way Leo McCarey wrote a short story titled Going My Way. Later, he adapted the story for film. The movie won seven Oscars - McCarey took home two for directing and writing. 1942: Mrs. Miniver The literary inspiration for the film was Mrs. Miniver by Jan Struther. Originally published as a newspaper column in the late 1930s, Mrs. Miniver is the story of a British housewife and her transition from dull domestic routines to wartime. The film won six Oscars including best actress for Greer Garson who played the title character.

1941: How Green Was My Valley How Green Was My Valley was written by Richard Llewellyn and published in 1939. It tells the story of the Morgan family, miners living in South Wales. The film was nominated for 10 Oscars and won five. Maureen O'Hara starred. 1940: Rebecca Based on the bestselling gothic novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, the story of a young woman who finds herself in a marriage haunted by a deceased first wife. While the film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, it won only two. Casablanca (1943) was the only Best Picture winner of its decade not based on a book. 1930s and '20s 1939: Gone With the Wind Margaret Mitchell is far from prolific, but her historical romance Gone With the Wind is arguably one of the world's most famous novels, certainly thanks to the Oscar-winning film adaptation that starred Clark Gable as Rhett Butler and Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara. The film won 10 Academy Awards.

1938: You Can't Take it With You The Pulitzer Prize-winning play You Can't Take it With You by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart hit Broadway in 1936. The play, about an eccentric New York City family, was the basis for the film that won two Oscars. 1937: The Life of Emile Zola The story of legendary French author Émile Zola (1840-1902), The Life of Émile Zola is based on Matthew Josephson's biography Zola and His Time . 1935: Mutiny on the Bounty The 1932 novel Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall is a fictionalized tale about a real life event - a mutiny on board a navy vessel while on a mission in the Pacific in 1789. The Oscar-winning film is one of many adaptations of the 1932 novel. "I'd cut up my heart for you to wear if you wanted it." — GONE WITH THE WIND 1934: It Happened One Night Based on the short story Night Bus by Samuel Adams, It Happened One Night won all five major Academy Awards.

Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert played two unlikely lovers who find themselves in the midst of a whirlwind adventure. 1932/33: Cavalcade Spanning 30 years, Cavalcade is a look at British life through the eyes of the wealthy Marryot family as they endure major events including the death of Queen Victoria, the sinking of the Titanic, and World War I. The film was based on the musical play Cavalcade by English playwright and composer Sir Nöel Coward. 1931/32: Grand Hotel Greta Garbo starred in the film adaptation of Grand Hotel by Vicki Baum, a story about the comings and goings of the guests and residents at Berlin's Grand Hotel. In fact, the book was originally published first in German as Menschen im Hotel . 1930/31: Cimarron A tale about Oklahoma after the Land Rush of 1889, this Oscar-winning western is based on Cimarron by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edna Ferber. While she started out writing romance, Ferber produced famous works including So Big (for which she won the Pulitzer) and Showboat .

1929/30: All Quiet on the Western Front Written by German soldier Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front was originally published as Im Westen nichts Neues and gives a soldier's harrowing account of warfare. The Great Ziegfeld (1936), The Broadway Melody (1928/29) and Wings (1927/28) were the only Best Pictures from the '20s and '30s not based on literature. What are your favorite books-turned-movies? More from Hollywood... The English Patient Study Guide | GradeSaver The English Patient Study Guide Buy Study Guide The English Patient , published in 1992, is Ondaatje's most famous and critically acclaimed work. The novel won Ondaatje the prestigious Booker McConnell Prize in 1992, making him the only Sri Lankan writer ever to receive the honor. In 1996, Saul Zaentz produced The English Patient as a film, adapted by Anthony Minghella, starring Ralph Fiennes as Almasy and Kristen Scott-Thomas as Katharine Clifton .

The film went on to win a slew of Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The English Patient features elements that define much of Ondaatje's earlier work -- his concern for historical accuracy, his experiments with fragmented consciousness and fragmented grammar/sentence structure, and his poetic imagery. Indeed, the opening of the novel is an epigraph from the real-life National Geographic Society, reflecting Ondaatje's penchant for blending documentary with fiction. The English Patient also takes place during World War II, during which Ondaatje himself was born. The story involves four people converging on a villa and discovering the secrets of their past in an effort to move towards healing in the future. The book, like many of Ondaatje's novels, isn't slavish to plot constructions. Indeed, in several interviews Ondaatje has revealed that the plot didn't really exist until he finished the first draft of the book. He frequently begins with only a generative image. Ondaatje, in an interview to Salon Magazine, even noted, "Almasy wasn't in the story in my head. Kip wasn't in the story. Caravaggio wasn't in the story.

It began with this plane crash and it went on from there." Ondaatje has also noted that one of the more difficult passages of the book involved Kip's departure from the villa, since it seemed slightly "deus ex machina," or willed through force of plot by an omniscient hand. Ondaatje says it is the one part of the book he's often taken to task for, but he did the absolute best he could - and he doesn't know "how to make it work better," since during the revision process he developed Kip's character deeply enough to lay the groundwork for the departure. The theme of revision comes up again and again in Ondaatje's interviews about his work, especially in regards to The English Patient. When talking to celebrated editor Walter Murch, Ondaatje revealed that it is in revision that the true work is done, sculpting the gems of inspiration that come from the initial generative visions. He keeps working until he is finished, sometimes even taking up to 6 or 7 years to finish a book. All in all, however, Ondaatje notes that he doesn't believe in closure to his novels.

At the end of The English Patient, after taking all his characters from their birth to a given destination, he abandons them, and sees a "new life beginning for Hana and Kip" off the page. 1996 Academy Awards® Winners and History Shine (1996, Australia/UK) Actor: GEOFFREY RUSH in "Shine", Tom Cruise in "Jerry Maguire", Ralph Fiennes in "The English Patient", Woody Harrelson in "The People vs. Larry Flynt", Billy Bob Thornton in "Sling Blade" Actress: FRANCES MCDORMAND in "Fargo" , Brenda Blethyn in "Secrets & Lies", Diane Keaton in "Marvin's Room", Kristin Scott Thomas in "The English Patient", Emily Watson in "Breaking the Waves" Supporting Actor: CUBA GOODING, JR. in "Jerry Maguire", William H.

Macy in "Fargo" , Armin Mueller-Stahl in "Shine", Edward Norton in "Primal Fear", James Woods in "Ghosts of Mississippi" Supporting Actress: JULIETTE BINOCHE in "The English Patient", Joan Allen in "The Crucible", Lauren Bacall in "The Mirror Has Two Faces", Barbara Hershey in "Portrait of a Lady", Marianne Jean-Baptiste in "Secrets & Lies" Director: ANTHONY MINGHELLA for "The English Patient", Joel Coen for "Fargo" , Milos Forman for "The People vs. Larry Flynt", Scott Hicks for "Shine", Mike Leigh for "Secrets & Lies" In the 1996 awards race, four of the five Best Picture nominees were from independent studios - and financed outside of mainstream Hollywood. 1996 was therefore dubbed "The Year of the Independents," plus films from abroad. For the first time in Oscar history, none of the major Hollywood studios (including Paramount, MGM, Warner Bros., UA, Fox, Columbia, Universal, or Disney's Buena Vista) were represented among the Best Picture-nominated films for 1996.

All the pictures nominated for Best Picture were low-budget, independent films - with the sole exception possibly being Tri-Star's Jerry Maguire, the closest nominee to a major, mainstream Hollywood studio. [The surge for independent films wouldn't last long - in 1997, the big-studio, big-budget Titanic (1997) swept the Oscars.] The big winner of the year was writer/director Anthony Minghella's The English Patient (a Saul Zaentz/Miramax film). [20th Century Fox studios dropped its support during pre-production, letting it go to the independent Miramax.] It was a prestigious, three hour long World War II saga/romance composed of flashbacks, conspiracies, and ambiguities and based on an adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's novel, about a French-Canadian nurse who cares for a mysterious, dying burn patient ('The English Patient') in a ruined, abandoned monastery in Italy's Tuscany, after he was wounded in a WWII plane crash in the African desert.

It had twelve nominations and nine Oscar wins - Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Original Dramatic Score, Best Costume Design, and Best Film Editing. It lost its nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay (Minghella), Best Actor (Fiennes) and Best Actress (Scott Thomas). Its nine Oscar wins made it the third most-awarded film in Academy history - and tied it with two other films with nine wins: Gigi (1958), and The Last Emperor (1987). Previously, only two other films had more wins: Ben-Hur (1959) (with eleven). With its Best Picture win for the expensively-made film, producer Saul Zaentz became a multiple Oscar-winning producer over a span of twenty years with over twenty Oscars for his films: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975) (5), Amadeus (1984) (8), and The English Patient (9).

With his win, Zaentz became a three-time Best Picture producer (his first and second wins were for One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and Amadeus (1984)). He became the second person to have produced three Best Picture winners since 1951. Only two others were three-time Best Picture producer-winners: Darryl F. Zanuck and Sam Spiegel.

The other Best Picture nominees were: the Coen Brothers' violent, black, film-noirish comedy Fargo (a Working Title Films/PolyGram/Gramercy Pictures film with seven nominations and two wins - Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay), about a Minnesota car salesman whose kidnap/ransom plan goes awry, and who was investigated by a no-nonsense, heavy-accented Minnesota police officer (Frances McDormand), known for saying: "Oh, you betcha, yah." This film was the quirky Coen Brothers' most conventional film to date, thereby accounting for its critical and commercial success writer/director Cameron Crowe's romantic sports comedy Jerry Maguire (a Gracie Films/TriStar film with five nominations and one win - Best Supporting Actor) about an ultra-slick sports agent (Tom Cruise) who becomes morally transformed director Mike Leigh's soap-opera-ish British film Secrets & Lies (a CiBy 2000/Thin Man Films/October Films production with five nominations and no wins), a socially-realistic film about an adopted, black London optometrist who seeks out her biological mother director Scott Hicks' Australian/UK arthouse tearjerker film Shine (a Momentum Films/Fine Line Features film

 with seven nominations and one win - Best Actor) - a biopic about the adversities faced by disabled, musical pianist genius David Helfgott Anthony Minghella won the Best Director award for The English Patient, following the pattern that the Best Director Oscar is often awarded to the Best Picture director.

The only one of the five directors of Best Picture nominees who wasn't nominated for Best Director was Cameron Crowe. His replacement in the category was director Milos Forman for The People vs. Larry Flynt (a Phoenix Pictures/Ixtlan Productions film with two nominations and no wins) about the infamous, unrepentant pornographer and Hustler Magazine publisher. Three out of the four winners in the acting categories were first-time nominees. Australian actor Geoffrey Rush (with his first nomination) won the Best Actor Oscar for his star-making performance as talented but agonizingly-troubled, mentally-disabled Australian concert pianist David Helfgott who suffers a crippling nervous breakdown when pushed to the breaking point in Shine. The other Best Actor nominees included: Tom Cruise (with his second unsuccessful nomination) as sports agent Jerry Maguire in Jerry Maguire Ralph Fiennes (with his second unsuccessful nomination) as the title character - mortally-burned Hungarian Count Laszlo Almasy who flashbacks on his tragically-doomed love affair as a debonair romantic with married mistress (Scott Thomas) in The English Patient Woody Harrelson (with his first nomination) as First Amendment-protected, crippled, pornography publisher Larry Flynt in The People vs.

Larry Flynt director/star/writer Billy Bob Thornton (with his first nomination) as mildly-retarded, convicted murderer Karl Childers in the moving drama Sling Blade, Thornton's directorial debut film (with two nominations and one win - Best Adapted Screenplay for actor/director/writer Billy Bob Thornton) Frances McDormand (with her second nomination and first Oscar win) won the Best Actress award for her role as Marge Gunderson - a chatty, largely-pregnant, intrepid local police chief and homicide detective in a small-town in Minnesota, in Fargo . [Note: McDormand won the Academy Award for a performance directed by her nominated husband - Joel Coen. She became the second star to win Best Actress in a film directed by her nominated director-husband.

Some argue that she was the first, however, since Sarandon and Robbins, nominated in the previous year for Dead Man Walking (1995), were unofficial, live-in marital partners.] They were the fourth married couple to be nominated for the same film: (1) John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands were nominated together (but neither won) for A Woman Under the Influence (1974), (2) Susan Sarandon and nominated-director Tim Robbins (her unofficial live-in husband) were nominated for Dead Man Walking (1995) (Sarandon won Best Actress), and (3) both Jules Dassin and Melina Mercouri were nominated (but neither won) for Never on Sunday (1960).

Note: Julie Andrews was nominated as Best Actress (without a win) for Victor, Victoria (1982) but her husband-director Blake Edwards wasn't nominated as director.] The other Best Actress nominees were: Brenda Blethyn (with her first nomination) as lonely, unmarried, self-pitying white factory worker Cynthia - the biological mother of a black daughter in Secrets & Lies Diane Keaton (with her third nomination) as sensitive, self-sacrificing, leukemia-stricken spinster Bessie in director Jerry Zaks' film of Scott McPherson's 1991 off-Broadway play Marvin's Room (the film's sole nomination) Kristin Scott Thomas (with her first nomination) as beautiful English newlywed Katharine Clifton - a cartographer's wife involved in a torrid, adulterous affair with 'the pre-English patient' in the unfolding story of The English Patient Emily Watson (with her first nomination) in her film debut as shy, religious Bess McNeill who sexually degrades herself for her paralyzed, oil-rigger husband's sake in writer/director Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves (the film's sole nomination) In a surprise win, Cuba Gooding, Jr.

(with his first nomination) won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance as Cruise's faithful client with a memorable line of dialogue ("Show me the money") - a black football player for the Arizona Cardinals named Rod Tidwell in Jerry Maguire. [Gooding's award made him the third black actor to win the Best Supporting Actor award - the others honored before him were Louis Gossett, Jr. for An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), and Denzel Washington for Glory (1989).] The other four Best Supporting Actor nominees included: William H.

Macy (with his first nomination) as hapless, indebted, dim-witted car salesman and failed blackmailer Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo Armin Mueller-Stahl (with his first nomination) as Geoffrey Rush's domineering, Holocaust-surviving father Peter Helfgott in Shine Edward Norton (with his first nomination) as altar boy - accused murderer Aaron/Roy in director Gregory Hoblit's feature film debut and thriller Primal Fear (the film's sole nomination) James Woods (with his second nomination) as evil Southern racist Byron De la Beckwith in director Rob Reiner's story of the 1963 murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evars and its subsequent trials, Ghosts of Mississippi (with two nominations and no wins) In another surprise win, Juliette Binoche (with her first nomination) won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar - she was the only nominated actor or actress in The English Patient to win the Oscar - for her performance as Hana, the fragile, good-hearted, and sympathetic Canadian nurse who cares for the dying, burn victim WWII patient (Ralph Fiennes).

The four other Best Supporting Actress nominees were: Joan Allen (with her second nomination) as a prim Puritan wife named Elizabeth Proctor who is a wrongly-accused witch in a film version of Arthur Miller's 1953 stage play The Crucible (with two nominations and no wins), about late 17th century witchcraft hunts and trials by director Nicholas Hytner the acknowledged and favored nominee - Lauren Bacall (with her first nomination) as Streisand's vain and narcissistic mother and faded glamour queen Rose in producer/star/director Barbra Streisand's romantic comedy The Mirror Has Two Faces (with two nominations and no wins) Barbara Hershey (with her first nomination) as manipulative and opportunistic Madame Serena Merle who manages to steer co-star Nicole Kidman into a disastrous marriage in director Jane Campion's Portrait of a Lady (with two nominations and no wins) Marianne Jean-Baptiste (in a lead role) as young Yuppie Londoner Hortense who seeks out her birth parents after the death of her adopted parents in Secrets & Lies.

[Marianne Jean-Baptiste was the first black British actress to be nominated for an Oscar.] The Best Documentary this year was When We Were Kings, a chronicling of the 1974 world heavyweight championship bout ("Rumble in the Jungle") in Zaire between Muhammad Ali and George Forman. Oscar Snubs and Omissions: Black actor Eddie Murphy was denied a nomination for his role as shy, overweight professor Sherman Klump (and many others) in The Nutty Professor. In a comeback supporting role, Debbie Reynolds was neglected as Beatrice in Mother. Ron Shelton's sports romantic comedy Tin Cup with Kevin Costner and Renee Russo was completely unnominated, and Baz Luhrmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet had only one nomination (unsuccessful) - Best Art Direction.

One of the greatest nature documentaries ever made, MicroCosmos, was puzzlingly completely overlooked for Best Documentary, Best Editing and Best Cinematography (for its revolutionary lensing of microscopic point-of-view of insects.) Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (with four unsuccessful nominations, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, and Best Dramatic Score) was lacking nominations for Best Director, and performance nominations for Kenneth Branagh as Hamlet, Julie Christie as Gertrude, Kate Winslet as Ophelia, and Derek Jacobi as Claudius. John Sayles' Lone Star (with a great performance by Kris Kristofferson as a Satanic border-town sheriff) was recognized with only one nomination, Best Original Screenplay (losing to Fargo ), and Doug Liman's Swingers went nomination-less. Courtney Love's supporting role as Althea Leasure Flynt was bypassed in the recognition given to The People Vs. Larry Flynt. William Macy might have fared better if nominated for Best Actor instead of for a supporting role, when compared to co-star Frances McDormand, who won for a leading role.

Danny Boyle's UK film Trainspotting about a heroin addict was able to garner only a single nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay (losing to Sling Blade), and Mel Gibson was unnominated for his performance as ex-fighter pilot Tom Mullen in search of his kidnapped son in Ron Howard's crime thriller Ransom. Joe Pantoliano was neglected for his role as Jennifer Tilly's psychotic mobster consort Caesar in the lesbian noir Bound. Kate Winslet was un-nominated for her role as ostracized Sue Bridehead for expressing her forbidden love for her cousin Jude in Thomas Hardy's adaptation, Jude. Noah Taylor was under-rated for his performance as teenaged, emotionally-damaged pianist David Helfgott (also played as an adult by Oscar-winning Geoffrey Rush) in the biopic Shine. Tony Shalhoub was unrecognized for his role as mid-50s Italian chef and restaurant co-owner Primo in Big Night, and Harry Belafonte was un-nominated for his supporting role as Depression-era black mobster Seldom Seen, memorable in a scene in which he disagreed with Marcus Garvey's 'Back-to-Africa' movement, in Robert Altman's Kansas City (with no nominations).

And Meg Ryan was bypassed for her role as tough Gulf War Captain Karen Walden in Courage Under Fire, as was Catherine Keener for her role as a neurotic 30-yr. old single New Yorker struggling with loneliness in Walking and Talking. Michael Ondaatje, David Thomson: Film screenings - SFGate Michael Ondaatje, David Thomson: Film screenings Michael Ondaatje and David Thomson Novelist and critic invite public for screenings, chat G. Allen Johnson Published 4:00 am, Thursday, April 2, 2009 Photo: Chronicle Archive, MGM Studios, 1967 Image 1of/1 Lee Marvin and Angie Dickinson in Point Blank Lee Marvin and Angie Dickinson in Point Blank Photo: Chronicle Archive, MGM Studios, 1967 Michael Ondaatje, David Thomson: Film screenings 1 / 1 Back to Gallery At one point in the 1950s there was a boys' school in London, Dulwich College , that was educating the fertile minds of both David Thomson and Michael Ondaatje , who would later write dozens of books between them.

Think of the film-geek discussions those two lads might have had, but alas, they didn't meet until decades later. Now they are friends united over their love of films. Thomson, a San Francisco film critic and author ("A Biographical Dictionary of Film"), and Ondaatje, a Toronto novelist and poet ("The English Patient"), are inviting the public to the Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael this weekend to chat with them about movies and to watch a few as well. They will host screenings and discussions of five films: Michael Mann 's 1992 "The Last of the Mohicans" (Friday), John Boorman 's 1967 " Point Blank " (Saturday), Stephen Frears ' 1992 "The Grifters" (Saturday), Karel Reisz 's 1978 "Who'll Stop the Rain" (Sunday) and Sam Peckinpah 's 1974 "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia " (Sunday). "What we really did, I think, was put together a few films we wanted to see again, properly, on the big screen," Thomson said over coffee along Fillmore Street.

"It began as fun, and that was what we intended it to be." While both like all five of their choices, it is clear from talking to both (Ondaatje checked in by phone from Toronto) that some compromise was involved. Ondaatje muscled in "Mohicans," and Sunday's program seems Thomson-driven ("I think Peckinpah went to hell," he said of "Alfredo Garcia." "But I like him and admire him a lot."). Both are equally enthusiastic about Saturday's films, which spotlight the novelist and screenwriter Donald E. Westlake , who died on New Year's Eve at age 75. "Point Blank" stars Lee Marvin as a hit man and is based on Westlake's "The Hunter," which he wrote under the pseudonym Richard Stark . "The Grifters" is Westlake's excellent adaptation of a Jim Thompson novel, and stars John Cusack and Annette Bening . "I've been a big fan of his for a long time," Ondaatje said. "I'm more of a fan of him as Richard Stark than as Donald Westlake. I find the Parker stories, like the 'The Hunter,' almost parodies, and much, much stronger stories.

There's a very tough, almost immorality at work." Ondaatje, of course, was adapted by Anthony Minghella . "The English Patient" won nine Oscars , including best picture, and it gave Ondaatje a new appreciation of the art of adaptation. "I think I was pretty lucky," Ondaatje said. " Walter Murch , who edited 'The English Patient,' once told me, 'If you are adapting a novel to film, you have to find the short-story version.' And I think that's one of the best things I've heard about the process.' " Fri.-Sun. Smith Rafael Film Center, 1118 Fourth St., San Rafael. (415) 454-1222. .

Saul Zaentz dead at 92, produced The English Patient | Variety — John Sloss (@johnsloss) January 4, 2014 His productions usually came with literary pedigrees — 1975’s “Cuckoo’s Nest” was based on Ken Kesey’s iconoclastic novel; 1984’s “Amadeus” was adapted from Peter Shaffer’s stage drama; and 1995’s “The English Patient” was based on the Michael Ondaatje novel. In between were such noble efforts as “Payday,” “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” “The Mosquito Coast” (which he exec produced), “At Play in the Fields of the Lord” and the 1978 Ralph Bakshi-animated “Lord of the Rings.” Most of his movies were financially successful, though the failure of “At Play” led him to seek outside financing sources for “The English Patient,” which was a worldwide box office success. The same year that he walked off with his third producing Oscar, for “The English Patient,” bringing him into the rarefied company of other triple winners Darryl F.

Zanuck and Sam Spiegel, he was awarded the Irving Thalberg Award for his efforts as a producer. He was the first producer since Cecil B. DeMille (1952) to win the Oscar and be awarded the Thalberg in the same year. Born in Passaic, N.J., he ran away from home at age 16 and made a living selling peanuts at the St. Louis Cardinals training camp and as a gambler. His first love was jazz, and after he served in the Army in WWII in North Africa and Sicily, he went to work with San Francisco-based jazz producer and promoter Norman Granz. It afforded him the opportunity to travel with one of his teenage idols, Duke Ellington, as well as to be in the company of such greats as Dave Brubeck and Gerry Mulligan. By the mid-’50s he was working for the select Fantasy Records, a jazz and comedy label, and was instrumental in waxing Brubeck, Lenny Bruce and Mort Sahl.

Fantasy appeared destined to be a cult label until its hit recording of Vince Guaraldi’s “Cast Your Fate to the Wind.” Several years later, backed by investors, Zaentz bought Fantasy and signed a promising country rock group called the Golliwogs. Soon thereafter they changed their names to Creedence Clearwater Revival and, with lead singer and songwriter John Fogerty, became a sensation with such songs as “Proud Mary” and “Down on the Corner.” CCR sold more than 5 million records, and in his first of several major legal battles over his lifetime, Zaentz would be involved in (and emerge victorious) in a battle with Fogerty over the rights to the Creedence catalog. Forgerty, then solo, would write such ditties as “Mr. Greed” and “Zanz Kant Danz” in retaliation. A second suit followed in 1985, when Zaentz accused Fogerty of stealing his own song “Run Through the Jungle” for his new tune “Old Man Down the Road.” Zaentz lost that one. Fantasy was sold to a consortium led by Norman Lear and merged with Concord Records in 2004.

Zaentz became involved in movies when he optioned two novels, Ken Kesey’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and Peter Matthiessen’s “At Play in the Fields of the Lord,” in 1968. In the meantime, he filmed an original piece, “Payday,” starring Rip Torn as a country singer. It was one of Zaentz’s favorite films, even though it lost money (and cost less than $1 million to produce). “Cuckoo’s Nest,” which he co-produced with Michael Douglas, finally came together in 1975 and was largely self-financed. It won several Oscars, including best picture, director (Milos Forman) and actor and actress (Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher). It also made a good deal of money (Kesey tried to sue for not receiving his fair share). In between Oscars Zentz also produced “Three Warriors” (1977) and an animated version of “Lord of the Rings” (in 1978). He contended that most of his movies at least broke even, enough for him to repay the loans on his Fantasy Records building in Berkeley.

And the ones that were profitable did extremely well for him, allowing him to finance his other projects. In 1984, working again with director Forman, he adapted Shaffer’s stage play about Mozart, “Amadeus,” to the screen. Again, he walked away with an armful of Oscars including picture, director and actor. His adaptation of Milan Kundera’s “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” directed by Philip Kaufman, was more than respectfully received, introducing American audiences to such future Oscar winners as Daniel Day Lewis and Juliette Binoche. Kaufman sued for a higher salary, and Zaentz paid him $150,000 as part of a Directors Guild settlement. Raising the money for “The English Patient” was a herculean task as 20th Century Fox pulled out of the movie at the last minute over casting problems (they wanted a big star like Demi Moore to play the Kristin Scott Thomas role). Zaentz went to Miramax for the $27 million he needed to complete the film (it cost about $35 million); Miramax turned to its parent, Disney.

The success was his biggest to date, winning a near record nine Oscars. He worked with Forman once again on “Goya’s Ghost,” which went largely unnoticed. In 1997 he allowed Miramax to option the “Lord of the Rings” property, to which he had obtained the rights in 1976, after it became a counterculture hit. Miramax could not financially commit to making more than one film, so director Peter Jackson took the project to New Line. The “Lord of the Rings” trilogy grossed more than $2.9 billion theatrically worldwide and became one of the most successful film franchises of all time, but Zaentz twice sued New Line over profit accounting, eventually settling with the studio. He also served as producer for legit theater versions of “Lord of the Rings.” He is survived by a four children, Dorian, Joshua, Athena, and Jonnie; seven grandchildren, and his nephew, Paul Zaentz, a producer. Oscar-Nominated Book-To-Movie Adaptations | Read It Forward Oscar-Nominated Book-To-Movie Adaptations By Natalie Zutter • 11 months ago It’s Oscar weekend!

Since its inception, the Academy Awards has honored movie adaptations with Best Adapted Screenplay, highlighting the filmmakers who take a short story, novel or play and translate it to the silver screen. While there are countless adaptations that have been nominated or won in the last 88 years, we’ve picked 14 that demonstrate the range of source material: Pulitzer Prize winners, doorstopper romantic epics, fantasy classics, whimsical children’s stories, pulpy thrillers, and nearly every genre you can imagine. What are your favorite and most memorable adaptations that became Oscar darlings? What We're Reading This Week Get recommendations for the greatest books around straight to your inbox every week. Great! You've signed up successfully!

Email Address Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell 1939 Academy Awards Won: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction Nominated: Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Visual Effects, Best Score, Best Sound Editing Considered one of the greatest films of all time, this adaptation of Margaret Mitchell’s behemoth novel (weighing in at over a thousand pages) went to great lengths to find its Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler. But Vivien Leigh was worth the wait, especially for her portrayal of Scarlett in her radiant moment of promising to save Tara and those she holds dear. And who can forget how the movie elevated the book’s quote to the famous brush-off, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn”?

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 1962 Academy Awards Won: Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction Nominated: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Supporting Actress, Best Score On the heels of its Pulitzer Prize win, Harper Lee’s beloved novel was adapted into a film that became equally vital in shaping audiences’ childhoods. While a faithful adaptation, arguably the movie’s greatest strength was Gregory Peck’s Oscar-winning embodiment of Atticus Finch. Lee’s words coming out of Peck’s mouth made for movie history, in a performance that is still examined and parodied today. Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers 1964 Academy Awards Won: Best Actress, Best Original Song, Best Score, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects Nominated: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Adaptation or Treatment Score While the score and songs from Walt Disney’s movie adaptation made Mary Poppins everyone’s favorite fictional nanny, there’s no discounting that this vision belongs to P.L. Travers.

Her series of children’s books laid out all of the delightful details, from Poppins’ ease with an umbrella to her endless carpetbag to visits with the Bird Woman. It’s also the rare movie whose making-of inspired another film, 2013’s Saving Mr. Banks. The Color Purple by Alice Walker 1985 Academy Awards Won: n/a Nominated: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup, Best Original Song, Best Score Steven Spielberg’s adaptation is the rare case where the movie hardly resembles the book, yet it still finds some nugget to translate and win audiences over. According to the New York Times review, Spielberg transforms the “realism and grit” of Alice Walker’s novel into a more upbeat tale which emphasizes the importance of family loyalty in even the most dire of circumstances, as Celie is separated from her sister, endures an abusive marriage, and falls in love with another woman.

1990 Academy Awards Won: Best Actress Stephen King’s horror novel, about a novelist taken captive by his psychotic number-one fan, found an unusual set of collaborators in director Rob Reiner and screenwriter William Goldman (The Princess Bride). But after their respective work with comedies, the duo dug into Paul Sheldon’s story, as the insane Annie Baker (Kathy Bates, winning an Oscar for the role) becomes enraged at him killing her favorite character, forces him to bring her back to life, and–in one of literature and cinema’s most brutal scenes–hobbles his feet to keep him from escaping. The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris 1991 Academy Awards Won: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress Nominated: Best Sound, Best Film Editing Jonathan Demme’s adaptation swept the 64th Oscars, becoming only the third film at the time to win the Big Five Academy Awards. This is especially interesting considering that while the novel was a success and garnered fans such as David Foster Wallace, the movie was a sleeper hit.

Clearly, Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins sold Claire Starling and Hannibal Lecter’s cannibalistic cat-and-mouse dynamic, which Ted Tally’s screenplay translated from the novel. And Demme’s direction was masterful, from the interrogation scenes to the most heart-pounding five minutes spent looking through night-vision goggles. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje 1996 Academy Awards Won: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Sound Mixing Nominated: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Actress In other hands, Michael Ondaatje’s novel might not have translated well to the big screen–set at a bombed Italian monastery during World War II, it examines the interconnected lives of a French-Canadian nurse, a burned man who speaks English but doesn’t know his name, a Sikh bomb defuser, and a Canadian Intelligence Corps operative. But director and screenwriter Anthony Minghella produces a fine adaptation, in which the group’s attempts to jog the English patient’s memory reveals a story of love, revenge, and misunderstanding that resonates with all of them.

The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien 2003 Academy Awards Won: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, Best Costume Design, Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup, Best Score, Best Original Song, Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects While the first two movies in Peter Jackson’s ambitious adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy seemed destined to be recognized more for the visual effects than the “Big Five” Academy Awards, The Return of the King made for the perfect closure to the kind of cinematic adventure that was as thrilling off-screen as on-. Like Gandalf swooping in on eagles to save the day, the final installment swept all 11 awards for which it was nominated.

“Brokeback Mountain” from Close Range: Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx 2005 Academy Awards Won: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, Best Original Score Nominated: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography Annie Proulx’s short story spooked several of the producers, directors, and actors who tried to bring it to the big screen, and many were surprised when Ang Lee (known for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hulk) finally took the reins. But he made this “gay cowboy movie” amazingly tender, prompting Proulx to praise that “I may be the first writer in America to have a piece of writing make its way to the screen whole and entire.” No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy 2007 Academy Awards Won: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor Nominated: Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing While Joel and Ethan Coen’s movies are known for their distinct style, when the brothers decided to try for an adaptation, they said, “Why not start with Cormac?

Why not start with the best?” Furthermore, they elected not to change much of the novel, aside from removing a few subplots and broadening Sheriff Bell’s perspective to instead look through the eyes of the many people who encounter the utterly terrifying Anton Chigurh. Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen by Jane Hawking 2014 Academy Awards Won: Best Actor Nominated: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Original Score The celebrated biopic The Theory of Everything (which earned Eddie Redmayne a Best Actor Oscar) took certain dramatic liberties with Jane Hawking’s memoir about her marriage to Stephen Hawking: The physicist is portrayed as more sensitive than he was depicted in Jane’s memory, and the movie intertwines their relationship with Hawking’s ALS, from meet-cute to diagnosis to their eventual separation (amicable in the film, bitter in real life). It’s standard Hollywood-ization of a true story, and should be taken with a grain of salt.

Won: n/a Nominated: Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress While Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern received Oscar nods for their performances in the adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s moving memoir, her words survived the jump to the silver screen as well: The New York Times praised screenwriter Nick Hornby for “how fully [the film] respects Ms. Strayed’s free-associative, memory-driven narrative.” The studio could have made more commercial choices, but its commitment to presenting her story—which captivated readers well on its own—gained it respect, in turn. The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff 2015 Academy Awards Won: TBD Nominated: Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design With his 2000 novel, David Ebershoff presented a very fictionalized account of Lili Elbe, one of the first people to undergo sex reassignment surgery. As he followed his own imaginings in fabricating characters, especially Lili’s wife Greta (named Gerda in real life), it should come as no surprise that the film adaptation took similar liberties.

Some of these run counter to the book, including more of an emphasis on Lili and Gerda’s relationship, and a different ending. Won: TBD Nominated: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actress In adapting her 2010 novel, Emma Donoghue first referred to a screenplay draft she had written between submission and publication. But as the process went on, Donoghue employed a number of techniques she wouldn’t have tried in prose: writing long, open-ended scenes “like a wildlife documentary,” she says; allowing the actors to improvise; etc. These creative choices led to a more naturalistic story that hammered home the horrors of her original idea, about a young woman and her son held captive in Room, which makes up the boy’s entire world. About Natalie Zutter NATALIE ZUTTER has always been a voracious reader, from reading Agatha Christie and Entertainment Weekly above her age level as a kid to squeezing 52 books into the year whenever podcasts aren’t taking over her commute. A 2016 Amtrak Residency writer, Natalie also writes plays about superheroes and sex robots, and Tumblr rants about fandom.

You can find her giggling over pop culture memes on Twitter @nataliezutter . You Might Also Like

Question: Which film was adapted from a Michael Ondaajte novel and went on to win 9 Oscars?
Answer: The English Patient